A pipe dream? [WAS: Re: P2P agents for software distribution - saving the WAN from meltdown?!?]

Wed Jun 18 20:50:37 UTC 2008

On Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 10:42:22PM +0800, Adrian Chadd wrote:
[...]
> <random type="idea from tonight">
> If only there was a way for a SP to run a BitTorrent type service for
> their clients, subscribing the BT server(s) to known-good (ie, not warez-y)
> torrents pre-seeded from trusted sources and then leaving it the hell
> alone and not having to continuously dump specific torrent files into
> it.
> </random>

Modifying the P2P protocols might help find good seeds, etc.  However,
I always like to take this thought a bit further and combine it 
with a particular Network Neutrality "solution."

Imagine a world where "Net Neutral" means that you have a neutral
layer 2 architecture and you're free to choose the layer 3 provider.
(Model it on US West/Qwest's original DSL product.)

Then, sprinkle in a *bunch* of ISPs that must have transparent 
layer 3 policies.  Let them block/fold/mutilate/spindle/synthesize
packets at their whim -- as long as they *tell* the customer 
what they're going to do.

In the end, I can see ISPs that do *nothing* to your traffic, and
charge what we would call "normal" pricing.  There would be cut-rate
ISPs that would promise best-effort, but will throttle if they have
congestion issues.

If you're an ISP, you might even try to cut a deal with the RIAA
and/or MPAA so your customers have *fast* access to legitimate
content.  As a content provider, I would look seriously into 
subsidizing the access costs so that I could capture an 
end user...

Guess I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue...